Use debconf and templates¶

Deb installation format has a support for user input during installation using debconf.

To enable it inside goreleaser you need:

templates file, what to ask (all templates go into single file):

Template: foo/like_debian
Type: boolean
Description: Do you like Debian?
 We'd like to know if you like the Debian GNU/Linux system.

Template: foo/why_debian_is_great
Type: note
Description: Poor misguided one. Why are you installing this package?
 Debian is great. As you continue using Debian, we hope you will
 discover the error in your ways.

Maintainer script file that will trigger questions, usually its postinst because all package files are already installed:

#!/bin/sh -e

# Source debconf library.
. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule

# Do you like debian?
db_input high foo/like_debian || true
db_go || true

# Check their answer.
# with db_get you load value into $RET env variable.
db_get foo/like_debian
if [ "$RET" = "false" ]; then
    # Poor misguided one...
    db_input high foo/why_debian_is_great || true
    db_go || true
fi

Include templates and postinst in .goreleaser.yaml:

    overrides:
      deb:
        scripts:
          postinstall: ./deb/postinst
    deb:
      scripts:
        templates: ./deb/templates

Useful tutorial: Debconf Programmer's Tutorial